wsws blows the lid off days 3 & 4 of the Impeachment hearings

Given that a) I figure all their quotes are verifiable, and b) that editor Joseph Kishore has given me permission to use the site’s content at will…I’ll copy/paste freely, as I was sincerely gobsmacked when I’d read this coverage this a.m..I’l ass a c) even though I deplore wsws author Andrea Lobo’s coverage of the OAS/US/CIA putsch against Evo Morales.

‘Who decided the US should fight a “hot war” with Russia?’, 23 November 2019. Andre Damon, wsws

“There is a saying attributed to the banker J.P. Morgan: “A man always has two reasons for what he does—a good one and the real one.”

If the alleged “organized crime shakedown” by Trump was the “good” reason for the impeachment inquiry, the “real” reason has emerged over two weeks of public congressional hearings. The hearings have lifted the lid on a massive US conspiracy to spend billions of dollars to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine in 2014 and foment a civil war that has led to the deaths of thousands of people.

The impeachment drive is itself the product of efforts by sections of the intelligence agencies and elements within the State Department to escalate Washington’s conflict with Russia, with potentially world-catastrophic consequences.

On Thursday, Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell showed a photo of Ukrainian President Zelensky in body armor on the “front lines” of the civil war in eastern Ukraine. He asked the State Department witnesses “why it’s so important that our hard-earned tax dollars help President Zelensky and the men standing beside him fight Russia in this hot war?”

David Holmes, political counselor at the US embassy in Kiev, replied:

Now is not the time to retreat from our relationship with Ukraine, but rather to double down on it. As we sit here, Ukrainians are fighting a hot war on Ukrainian territory against Russian aggression.

Later in his testimony, Holmes pointed to the massive sums expended by the United States and its European allies to fight this “hot war,” saying the US had provided $5 billion and its European allies $12 billion since 2014.

In her testimony last week, the former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovich recalled that as ambassador:

I went to the front line approximately 10 times during a hot war… sometimes literally as we heard the impact of artillery, and to see how our assistance dollars were being put to use.

She added:

Ukraine, with an enormous land mass and a large population, has the potential to be a significant…force multiplier on the security side… And now Ukraine is a battleground for great power competition with a hot war for the control of territory and a hybrid war to control Ukraine’s leadership.

She explained that the US-funded and fascist-led “Maidan Revolution” of 2014, which she and other State Department officials absurdly called the “Revolution of Dignity,” was part of this conflict. “That’s why they launched the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, demanding to be a part of Europe,” she declared.

Diplomat George Kent invoked the same theme in his testimony last Wednesday, saying:

Ukraine’s popular Revolution of Dignity in 2014 forced a corrupt pro-Russian leadership to flee to Moscow. After that, Russia invaded Ukraine, occupying seven percent of its territory, roughly equivalent to the size of Texas for the United States…

Since then, more than 13,000 Ukrainians have died on Ukrainian soil defending their territorial integrity and sovereignty from Russian aggression. American support in Ukraine’s own de facto war of independence has been critical in this regard.

Kent subsequently compared the role of the United States in the Ukrainian civil war to that of Spain and France in the American War of Independence. In that conflict, Spain and France were officially at war with Great Britain, including formal declarations of war in 1778 and 1779.

If Kent’s analogy is true, then the United States is in an undeclared war with Russia.

But when has this war ever been discussed with the American people? Was there ever a congressional vote to authorize it? Does anyone believe that if the question, “Do you want to spend billions of dollars to help Ukraine fight a war with Russia,” were posed to the American public, the percentage answering yes would be anything more than minuscule? Of course, that question was never asked.” [snip]

“But in the congressional hearings this week, government officials declared that any questioning of this aid is virtually treasonous. In her testimony on Thursday, former National Security Council officer Fiona Hill accused anyone who questions that “Ukraine is a valued partner” of the United States of advancing “Russian interests.”

“When we are consumed by partisan rancor, we cannot combat these external forces,” she said, threatening the “president, or anyone else, [who] impedes or subverts the national security of the United States.”

In 2017, Hill penned a blog post for the Brookings Institution calling Trump a “Bolshevik,” echoing statements made more than 60 years ago by John Birch Society leader Robert W. Welch, who declared that President Eisenhower was a “communist.”

Underlying the mad allegations of the Democrats that Trump is functioning as a “Russian asset” is a very real content: The extremely dangerous drive by factions within the state for a military confrontation between the United States and Russia, whose combined nuclear weapons arsenals are capable of destroying all of humanity many times over.

There is no “peace” faction within the American political establishment. No credence can be given to either one of the parties of US imperialism, which have, over the course of decades, presided over the toppling of dozens of governments, the launching of countless wars and the deaths of millions of people.

It is imperative that the working class articulate its own independent standpoint toward this crisis. As the World Socialist Web Site stated last month, “The fight against the Trump administration and the defense of the most basic democratic rights is a fight against capitalism and American imperialism, which must be conducted completely independent of and in opposition to the Democratic Party.”

“This utterly reactionary, pro-imperialist role was demonstrated Friday in the tribute that Yovanovitch paid, in the course of her testimony, to Arsen Avakov, the Ukrainian interior minister (head of the domestic police) under both the current president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and his predecessor Petro Poroshenko. Avakov is a principal sponsor of fascist militias such as the Azov Battalion, which glorify the Ukrainians who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II against the Soviet Union. In other words, the State Department officials being celebrated in the media for defending American democracy are actually working with the fascists in Ukraine.

While Yovanovitch hailed Avakov, Kent cited as his heroes among immigrants who have rallied to the defense of the United States Zbigniew Brzezinski and Henry Kissinger, two of the biggest war criminals of the second half of the twentieth century.” [snip]

““The connection between the impeachment drive and differences on foreign policy was spelled out Friday on the front page of the New York Times, in an analysis by the newspaper’s senior foreign policy specialist, David Sanger, a frequent mouthpiece for the concerns of the CIA, State Department and Pentagon, under the headline, “For President, Case of Policy vs. Obsession.” [snip]

But Sanger goes on to spell out, in remarkably blunt terms, the real foreign policy issues at stake in the Trump impeachment. He writes, “In an otherwise divided Washington, one of the few issues of bipartisan agreement for the past six years has been countering Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s broad plan of disruption. That effort starts in Ukraine, where there has been a hot war underway in the east for five years …”

Trump, according to Sanger, has betrayed the anti-Russia policy outlined by his own administration in a Pentagon strategic assessment which declared that the “war on terror” had been superseded as the top US priority by “great-power competition,” particularly directed at China and Russia. He sacrificed this policy to his own personal, electoral interests, as expressed in the comment by the US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland: “President Trump cares more about the investigation of Biden” than about the military conflict between Ukraine and Russia.”

35 responses to “wsws blows the lid off days 3 & 4 of the Impeachment hearings”

“60 years ago” someone called Eisenhower a commie. I guess it’s all just the same old thing, doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that out. Or maybe it does. People try to twist themselves in pretzels figuring out who is to blame, i.e., the deep state, various factions, etc. It’s all the same thing. At least WSWS, as opposed to the dem party blog you cross posted to, has it consistently right at the end of that piece.

“It is imperative that the working class articulate its own independent standpoint toward this crisis. As the World Socialist Web Site stated last month, “The fight against the Trump administration and the defense of the most basic democratic rights is a fight against capitalism and American imperialism, which must be conducted completely independent of and in opposition to the Democratic Party.”

In “opposition to the Democratic Party”, which includes CFR agent and imperialist Gabbard and imperialist Sanders. It’s logical to say the fight is also against those that support them and that party, just as it is against the republicans. THEY are to blame, those that supposedly represent us, them and this corrupted and totally inadequate political system.

One thing that makes me sick is Trump being somehow made a victim in all this, which imo is greatly aided by the progressives’ mantra that there is such great disparity in foreign policies between him and the so called deep state, or other factions of the ruling class. That’s just garbage, Trump has done pretty much what has been expected from him by those that rule us. I think WSWS has it right, this is all bipartisan theater to aid the imperialist cause.

i know that it’s by way of an article of faith with you that trump shouldn’t be victimized by (any sort, i reckon) of Deep State/shadow government elites. but in a couple situations i disagree. one was when he was about to use ‘limited nukes’ on nuclear enrichment sites in iran (not forlow, iirc) and his military commanders wouldn’t comply. that fact was massaged into his being ‘virtuous’ at the last minute, of course.

the other was the NY/CIA times’ announcing thwe whisper campaign that DT did in fact want out of NATO (what hooey; he just wanted members to fork over more filthy lucre). an presto: the defense of nato act, which yeppers, bernie endorsed, as (again, iirc) it was such a unanimous vote in the senate they hadn’t even done a roll call vote.

gabbard hadn’t voted, of course, as she hadn’t for extending the patriot act in the recent continuing resolution. she, by the by, for some reason is no longer a member of CFR, whether by her design or theirs, i can’t say. but i have looked up the long, long, list of members, and she’s no longer on it, or wasn’t last i’d looked. she’s also no longer taking money from defense contractors, lol, after open secrets had featured a piece about ‘gabbard’s defense contractors’ problem’, or close to that..

trump’s FP is horrid in most cases, but his early wish to make detente with russia has caused all sorts of shit like: russia-gate. his racism and islamaphobia drive a hella lot of his FP and domestic policy, especially kowtowing to the sauds and bibi, and his policies against the former ‘pink tide nations’. it’s small wonder, though, that Peloi, et.al. chose this one frigging phone call to zelenskiy to base their impeachment inquiries on, isn’t it?

now just as a reminder, some of those featured comments is the wsws were republicans…an one was trump’s former envoy to ukraine, as i understand it. Rs who’ve turned on him now carry far more weight with the rather apathetic public in these matters.

I guess my point is to not make it seem like Trump is the virtuous one in all this by blaming the deep state and/or the democrats for this circus.
As for Gabbard, of course her name was removed. That was all a step by step concerted effort to stave off the criticism she was getting for being a member. First, she tried to explain that she was only a member in training of some such bs, and that she was just there to observe, get information, etc., again all bs.

That didn’t get the heat off so she, and her handlers, were forced to get her name removed, quietly, from the CFR site. I had been to that site years ago and saw her name there, now there are some questioning if she was ever really a member. So her/their ploy worked, somewhat. I know others besides myself keep hammering on it though. Like I’ve said, she’s a career politician, raised to be, and she and her handlers know the game just like Obama and his did. So, voila, “hey, I’ve evolved!”, and the partisans eat it up.

Saw this article yesterday by Brandon Smith about how politicians will say anything to get elected, then turn around and do the opposite after elected. I mean, duh, why is that even a question? That’s literally as old as the hills. Ask Mark Twain. Ask Socrates. It’s actually a good indicator of our real intelligence as beings that we even discuss this anymore.

“It seems like a simple and easy to identify pattern, but for some reason the public keeps falling for the same old globalist tricks. A well-worn tactic the money elites use to endear certain puppet political candidates to Americans is to encourage those candidates to use anti-elitist rhetoric, only to then flood their cabinets with those same elites once they get into office. The rule of politics seems to be, “Say whatever you want to get the people on your side, but once you’re in office, you do as we tell you…”

These candidates will aggressively attack the banks, corporations and wall street, lamenting the rapid decline of the middle class or “working class”. They will point out that a mere handful of ultra-rich, the top 1%, control more wealth than nearly half of the population combined. They will seize upon the travesties of the poor and argue for “change” to bring balance back to the system. They will pretend to expose the crimes of the banking cabal and the upper echelons of Wall Street. They will put on a grand show; and then, they will do the bidding of their masters and play the role they were groomed for…”

And to top it al off with a nice big cherry, WE JUST HAD OBAMA! Sorry to yell. Iow, we just had one of the biggest political frauds ever serve 8 years and people still don’t get it. That’s what I was talking about earlier, the same people who at least lamented about Obama (because he still retains a near 80% approval rating among dems), of which I do give them credit, are jumping on the Sanders and Gabbard bandwagons. That to me is perplexing.

I will just add here that the one thing that the excerpts on either side probably don’t care about (but I do) is that the entire farce is totally unConstitutional. I know the Constitution is presently considered a piece of paper but the lies evidenced in the ‘Russian invasion’ story cannot stand up under scrutiny, which I keep hoping is going to happen. And I think lying about recent history in such an important matter as possible nuclear conflagration could certainly be considered a high crime.

To me it’s a case of which is worse, in a flawed situation of governance such as the current one. It isn’t just a case of choosing the lesser evil, but a case of choosing survival over insanity. My thought is it isn’t Trump being made out as the victim; humanity is. He’s a very flawed individual who has caused some terrible things to happen but in this I’m on his side and I hope he wins the day by mounting counter charges that clarify what happened in Ukraine, even if that boosts his prospects. It may be a pipe dream; I’m no clairvoyant; he may still fall short in this, for sure. But I’m not ready for total chaos either, so all I can do is hope and pray for the public to see more in this than the Dems are angling for.

We can only handle one disaster at a time, and Pence as an alternative – or Pelosi for that matter – is not the result I feel comfortable with at all. I’m sorry – in such confusing times we need to sort out, publicly speaking, the disaster that did indeed happen under Democratic leadership in Ukraine, and that disaster cannot be blamed on Trump.

Understand where you’re coming from, but I believe picking sides in this ruling class battle is a dangerous things for the serfs. It will only perpetuate and strengthen their hold on power. The idea is to reject all of them, all factions, all sides, and this political system. I’ve seen this over and over since the 60’s/70’s in my lifetime, (the Kennedys, MLK JR, church committee, Iran Contra, etc., etc.), and our being ruled will never end unless enough of us take a total stand against all of them.

Thanks, Big Al, for a kind rejoinder. I’m actually speaking as one who can’t see any further reason to vote. I suppose it is a romantic idea, but I often think of Dr. Zhivago as Russian Revolution was beginning. The chaos that is politics seems of the nature of that novel – a total unreality in which many factions have conflicting unsavory plans that as you say is impossible to be a part of and yet we are in it. Like you, I have seen all of it happen as well.

I don’t know how we take a total stand against all of them, I really don’t. It’s important to keep saying what we know to be true, but I will never be a violent person – so I guess I am not much use when it comes to solving the huge mess that has become this country’s fall from grace. I am more part of the past than I am of the future, a future which I cannot predict. I do love and respect a lot of people with different opinions political or otherwise than mine because I grew up in a much safer world where that was how you knew and loved your neighbor. I don’t mind being an oddity – I’m in some pretty good company that way, and wendye is kind to put up with me.

Is it important to mankind in general that we’ve had people like Socrates? Or rather, like Plato who describes him? I really think it is. I don’t put myself in his class intellectually but he’s someone I really admire. As I said, I’m odd.

pithy and germane comment, juliania. and yes, as with iran, lies can lead to war, and especially now…nuclear wars. and julian assange is dying in belmarsh prison for exposing o many of those lies.

i’d wondered aloud over yonder if DT or his staff have even twigged to this iteration of russia-gate brought to us by these two authors. last i’d read, he says he wants a trial in the senate where he can meet his accusers, namely the as yet unnamed whistleblower (all know it’s eric ciarmella), so does he know what this is really about?

i ca’t see him being removed from office with 67 yea votes in the senate, but pence frightens me even worse, as he’s ruled by voices in the pentecostal sky, and that movement is Huuuuge in this country.

i’m about to turn into a pumpkin, morning always comes too early here, and at 20 degrees, to boot. tonight’s closing song is by the late great talking poet john trudell, who turned poison into medicine like no other i’ve ever known. and of course, they’re all rich mans wars. g’ night, all.

Some ones are crazy or
Maybe we take turns
Dreaming about some kind of life
We say it could have been different
But it wasn’t because we weren’t

you may want to read this lengthy piece by david stockman put up at anti-war.com and zero hedge that lot lizard over yonder had recommended. it’s a brilliant history of ukraine, and he factors in recent history on burisma and many atlantic council funding sources. he’s especially hard on the clinton machine, thankfully.

i’d put up a few excerpts over yonder to entice folks to read at east this part. to me, it’s a keeper.

That faction of progressives/democrats hate the Clintons and Biden, i.e., what they consider the establishment dems who are in the way of reforming their democratic party and their fav candidates Sanders and Gabbard, so much that they tend to side with Trump on this things. Same thing as on the other side where most Trump supporters hate liberals so much, which is what they identify the democrats as, now along with socialists, that 60% would still support him no matter what he did. This political factionalism along this two party system is killing us.

given that you’ve posted this comment under my offering from lot lizard (who lives in dresden, germany), i’m not sure if you’re beating the same drum or arguing against your self. you’d been glad of this from wsws, not that i’d entirely understood it:

“It is imperative that the working class articulate its own independent standpoint toward this crisis. As the World Socialist Web Site stated last month, “The fight against the Trump administration and the defense of the most basic democratic rights is a fight against capitalism and American imperialism, which must be conducted completely independent of and in opposition to the Democratic Party.”

i’d need to ask if you’d read it, or was it just that i’d mentioned his having indicted ‘the clinton machine’ (he’d said it much more colorfully). over yonder, a commenter had asked me if i’d read it with three ????, i suppose because david stockman’s a republican, and was the director of ronald reagn’s OMB from 1981-1985. paul craig roberts (yes, he’s creepy-bo-peepy) but has changed his stripes from the days he’d worked for reagan as an assistant secretary of the treasury, and often has good things to read now as well.

in fact, i’d used some of his material lambasting the nasty-ass james risen the other day.

but all of that aside, of course we can agree to argue against the D team on ukraine-gate and russia-gate without championing trump on any other issues, domestic of FP. know what i mean?

I perused it, enough to understand the jist. I’ve read Stockman before, he’s a reasonable establishmentarianist. As far as arguing against the Dem team on Ukraine/Russia, etc., depends on how you look at it. To me, a revolutionary wouldn’t bother. I’m not saying I’m a revolutionary, but I believe we need a movement with a revolutionary mindset, one that rejects all factions of the establishment equally. If not, maybe not to you or me, there will be consequences, e.g., focusing on the dems and inadvertently making Trump look good, feeding his base, etc.

Not only that but continually following the bouncing red ball, trying to figure things out, who is responsible, who did what, etc., all the while the New World Order continues tighten the chains on our freedom and liberty. Everything, all of them must be rejected. Like I said, depends on how one looks at things, that’s how I’ve come to look at it. Which is why I got banned at C99 and sound like a broken record to most everyone. But the daily and weekly debates and conversations about the ruling class antics are in themselves a sort of broken record also. We’re all broken records. No offense on anything wd, just rambling. You know, Rambling Man.

while i do get your drift and red line in the sand, to me the issues have to be tackled one at the time in search of the truth, or as close to the truth as we’re able to discover. and that stockman part (whichever) had a lot of history that i knew as so, and much i hadn’t known.

i don’t find it remotely bothersome that saying what’s so in any particular case might end up defending even a war criminal like trump; it may be the mark of ‘fair witnessing’, imo. i will say that i don’t care much for sites that dig into the lowest-hanging fruit ad nauseum, but then i just don’t read them. me, i’m sick to death of hearing about ilhan omar and aoc.

but this may tickle you; it came in on the popular resistance newsletter this morning: a Labor and Community for an Independent Party conference in Cleveland, Ohio (my birthplace, lol, a good place to never return!

Oh, that Stockman piece is great, wendye! I now have a ‘wendye’s Sites list’ taped to the box on which my computer sits – you always bring me such good links to go to, and apologies that last night a queasy tum (drat Albertson’s; their ‘organics’ produce is so phony – even Walmart is better!) had me turning in even before we finished walloping the Brits at cricket down under. Better going this morning, I am happy to say.

I loved the image of parachuting granddaddy Bush floating down into Germany to dissolve Nato – gonna chuckle at that one all day today – always did have a soft spot for David Stockman and he does nail the history.

Happy Sunday – we wipe up the cricket test this afternoon; have to bowl the Brits out or they can claim a draw, but Black Caps have been, as my sister likes to describe it, “on song” the four days so far. Summer in New Zealand. Lovely stuff.

i’m glad you’d followed lot lizard’s recommendation, then; i loved his colorful language, although i admit me he’d lost me a bit with the cavalcade of allies and lobbying firms a it. you’d mentioned albertson’s once, and i confess my stomach had roiled a bit, as some of the good there had made me ill as well. i stopped shopping there, even for the cheaper prices.

good joss on your cricket team! enjoy! but no, although i did a lot of athleics in high school, ‘base-a-ball been-very-good-to-me’ (father guido sarducci, SNL) is the only sport i’ve ever enjoyed watching. ;-)

on edit: here i was saying that i’d excerpted some bits from stockman’s piece, without realizing i’d never given a cross-post link. when i’d tried three times to cross-post it with my 2 aged firefoxes that support Easy Copy html, it simply would format normally, so i’d had to build the whole thing with the c99% software, so very aggravating. rebuild hyperlinks, remember style tags, arrrg and ack.

Very interesting that lot lizard lives in Dresden. Dostoievski loved the art museum there, and my little church’s priest was in a prisoner of war camp when it was firebombed, as a youth. Your commenter will know that the Orthodox cathedral was the only building to survive in one of the devastated parts of the city. The basement was where our priest took refuge. And, old calendar, it was the feast of the Presentation, known in the west as Candlemas, (hastily converted to Groundhog Day lest we get too religious — the movie does a good job getting us back in the spirit, tho!)

So, they firebombed Dresden on Old Calendar Candlemas.
Probably more than any one needs to know :)

i’m not sure what she knows, but we have discussed the bombing of dresden and kurt vonnegut’s slaughterhouse five and his ‘war in reverse’, quite timely… did i memorialize the date this year or last and cross-post it? i’ve forgotten.

i’ve gotten the order of stockman’s writings on ukraine, but here are two more, perhaps one and three?

and yes, the reason the allies chose dresden was because of the glorious artwork there; they thought it would demoralize the germans, yada, yada. it certainly wasn’t a militarily strategic target by any stretch of the imagination.

well, my stars; look who the southeast gale-force winds blew in! it’s been 3 blue moons since we’ve seen ya, bruce. an hilarious book and excerpts!

one thing not excerpted, perhaps not in the book, was that no one ‘hacked’ the emails. they were of course leaked, as many have proven, most especially the VIPS, veteran intelligence officers for sanity.

but the red queen SWEARS she really won’t run again in 2020; my bet’s on chelsea after such massive plastic surgery and having written a book with her mum (post’ it takes a pillage). was the book’s the anonymous deep throat former campaign adviser dick morris…who’d said on RT that she thought that gawd had commanded her to run again?

well how in the most beautiful world in the world are you doing, anyway? have any of your health issues resolved for the better? so nice to see you again!

Like US’ malaise, same ol’ chronic complications; e.g., a megalomaniac Methodist Ministry Crusade by Demonstrably Criminal Clinton, AGAIN?! Wisht I Hadn’t heard ! Where’s the 2020 election Walkaway Third party ticket of Gabbard/Sanders or “vice”\versa !? Still time For PR0GESS in either personal or political event !

well, that’s the dream team for a hella lotta ‘leftist’ dems. me, nopers; as an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, i’ll have to go Green again. howie hawkins if he’s nominated in (fer fucksake) in july, iirc.

AND US Trump desperados. (Hadda, GreenExit after 3rd stringer of the DEM deep bench 0f BETRAYAL $tein (behind 2nd, Bern); appealed 0nly the Hillary-lost MI,WI,PA,OH states’ polls with unknown source tens of millions on Clint’s behalf ! B/G’s won’t be allowed DEM coronation; their only chance (as it was for them and $tein as in 2016 is a united independents’ party/ticket ! 0r well.

LoL! boy, howdy, do i need a plain-speak translation. is one part about stein raising money for re-counts in three states based on ‘russian interference’ (against the pleas of her running mate ajamu baraka and the green party board)?

and how are your health issues and family? remember when you’d gone to hear omali yeshitelah (sp) and he never showed up? ‘bad form’, i say!

Well, here’s one (not exactly digestively linked, butt Almost; at least flatulently) : https://i2.wp.com/joedubs.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/elephantsasses_fredaweb.jpg?ssl=1 ; with caption – “Freda creates his potent and provocative illustrations with a combination of found objects and surfaces, collage and drawing—all mixed together to great effect. Freda says that he uses art “as a tool of political activism” Wurkz Fer ME on the left-right duopoly ! (With these two RIN0/DIN0SAURS; may we yet evolve the Freedom T’urd Party REAL REPRESENTATION !).

welcome; it was the only way i could figure out how to bring it. can’t fathom why i can’t find it by bingling for it; it’s always been there. now you’ve seen it,
can i take it down? you could always grab the url to stick in your files before i do. well, if i decide to, i guess….

i confess, i wrote up a piece for my.firedoglake describing the er….shared innards; ish. freda loved it, as i remember it.